Moana Hotel - Growth

Growth

Over the course of Matson's ownership of the Moana, it grew along with the popularity of Hawaiian tourism. Two floors were added in 1928 along with Italian Renaissance-styled concrete wings on each side of the hotel, creating its H shape seen today.

The hotel's outward appearance was altered slightly over the years, including "updates" to such designs as Art Deco in the 30's and Bauhaus in the 50's.

From 1935 to 1975, the Moana's courtyard hosted the Hawaii Calls live radio broadcast. Legend has it that listeners mistook the hiss of the radio transmission as the waves breaking on the beach. When learning of this, the host instructed the soundman to run down to the waterfront to actually record the sound, which became a staple of the show.

In 1952, Matson built a new hotel adjacent to the Moana on the east side, called the Surf Rider Hotel. They sold all of their Waikiki hotel properties to the Sheraton Company in 1959. In 1969 Sheraton built a towering new hotel on the Moana's west side. They named it the Sheraton Surfrider Hotel and the older Surf Rider Hotel on the east side was turned into part of the Moana, known as the "Diamond Head Wing". Sheraton sold all of their Hawaiian hotels in 1974 to Japanese industrialist Kenji Osano and his Kyo-Ya Company, though Sheraton continued to manage them. In 1989, a $50 million restoration (designed by Hawaii architect Virginia D. Murison) restored the Moana to its 1901 appearance and incorporated the 1969 Sheraton Surfrider Hotel and the 1952 Surf Rider Hotel buildings with the Moana Hotel building into one beachfront resort with a common lobby, renaming the entire property the Sheraton Moana Surfrider.